Monday, 28 March 2011

The latest ELI is the second in our geological mapwork from scratch series; 'valley with simple geology - draw your own cross sections and geological 3D model'
Pupils are shown a photograph of a straight valley, a simple landform. They are given a very simple geological map of such a landform, with
horizontal beds. They are asked to draw topographical cross sections of the valley, adding the geology to produce geological cross sections.
As the cross-section drawing progresses, it involves more interpolation and more three-dimensional thinking skills. Pupils will realise that all the geological boundaries and therefore all the beds are horizontal. This will allow them to complete the 3D block diagram successfully.
Many more investigative activities can be found on our website.

Monday, 14 March 2011

Our latest ELI is'Geological mapwork from scratch 1: a conical hill'. This guides students through the process of drawing their own topographical and geological cross sections from maps. It is the first of a series introducing simple geological mapwork. A table of the progression and spiralling of spatial thinking skills involved through the series is given on the final page.
This is one of many activities listed in our'Investigating the Earth' category.

Monday, 7 March 2011

Have you tried the Earthlearningidea 'Squeezed out of shape; detecting distortion after rocks have been affected by Earth movements'? A carefully made mould of a shell is deliberately distorted before a plaster cast is made, producing an artificial ‘fossil’. This represents the squeezing which often takes place when sedimentary rocks, with their included fossils, are affected by strong lateral pressures in the Earth, e.g. during mountain-building at active plate boundaries.
Search the website for other activities related to metamorphism and plate movements.

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About Earth Learning Idea

ELI is publishing FREE Earth-related teaching ideas, designed to be practical resources for teachers and teacher-trainers all over the world.We publish new Earth Learning Ideas every two weeks. Some of these activities require the use of some basic school laboratory equipment and some include abstract ideas. We label these activities ELI+. Each activity is designed to create pupil participation for maximum learning.All activities are free to download and most require minimal cost and equipment. Best of all, they are fun!